Dental appliance



Sept. 10, 1929. HARTMAN 1,727,643

' I DENTAL APPLIANCE Filed April 8, 1926 INVENTOR Her/71 7A ATTORN EYS Patented Sept. 10, 1929.

warren STATES HARRY EASTMAN, OF NEW YORK, .151.

PATENT oFFica.

DENTAL APPLIANCE.

Application filed April 8, 1926.

ing drawing which illustrates an' example of the invention without defining its limits and in which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a gum with a false tooth mounted in accordance with the present invention inserted in place; Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side view on an enlarged scale of the carrier with the false tooth in place therein; Fig. 4 is a rear elevation thereof; Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the carrier on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 and Fig. 6 is a corresponding view showing one carrier section adjusted to an inoperative position.

Heretofore in mounting one or more false teeth in the mouth, it has been necessary to secure the same in place by means of bridge work or by anchoring the false teeth to natural teeth through the medium of caps and similar devices. These existing arrangements not only increase the expense incidental to the insertion of false teeth but complicate the actual operation of placing the teeth in their intended positions and in addi tion often make it necessary to mutilate sound, natural'teeth in order to obtain an anchorage for the false tooth or teeth. The present construction avoids the use of any of the above indicated devices as will be hereinafter more fully pointed out. For the purpose of illustrating and describing the invention it is shown in a form adapted for the mounting of an individual false tooth; it will be understood that the invention is equally welladapted for mounting a plurality of adjacent false teeth.

The carrier comprises a main section 10 having a depending portion 11 and being fixed upon the false tooth 12 in any convenient manner as by means of cement or the like. An auxiliary section 13 having a de- Serial No. 100,552.

pending portion l lis pivotally connected at 15 with the main section lO so as to be capable of pivotal movement toward and away from the same. Any suitable means may be provided for maintaining the auxiliary section 13 in operative position with respect to the main section 10; in the illustrated example co-operating means are provided on the two sections for this purpose and as shown, comprise a hook or its equivalent 16,

located upon the auxiliary section 13'and adapted to engage a recess 17 on the main section. 10. The arrangement is such that the hook 16 and recess 17 may be engaged and disengaged by exerting either a slight pres sure or a pull upon the depending portion 1 1 of the auxiliary section 13, this being readily possible because of the inherent resiliency of the hook 16 when in engagement with each other the hook 16 and recess 17 will prevent any unintentional pivotal movement of the auxiliary section 18. The depending portions 11 and 1 1 which in practice are adapted to extend over the front and rear surfaces of the gum a, respectively, are shaped on their inner surfaces to conform to the natural shape of the gum at the point where the natural tooth is missing. Furthermore the carrier consisting of the sections 10 and 13 is curved transversely or otherwise shaped as indicated at b to fit the surface contour of the natural teeth 0 between which the'false tooth is to be fitted.

Generally speaking, the space between two or more natural teeth 0 resulting from the removal of one or more natural teeth converges upwardly as indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 1. With the improved mounting it is possible to insert thefalse tooth or teeth transversely into this space to thereby take advantage of the upwardly converging form thereof for fixing the false tooth or teeth in place. This is accomplished by adjusting the auxiliary section 13 to the inoperative position shown in Fig. 6 which separates the carrier and enables the aforesaid transverse insertionof the false tooth to be easily carried out. After the false tooth 12 has thus been placedfin position, the aux-. iliary section 13 is pivotally restored to the I operative pos1tion shown in Fig. 3 in which position it is fixed by the engagement of the hook 16 with the recess 17. The aforesaid pivotal separation of the carrier sections 10 and 13 also makes it possible to fit the carrier into close surface engagement with the contiguous natural teeth, or in other words to bring the curved surfaces 6 of the carrier into surface engagement with the teeth 0 and thereby, produce a concavo-convex interlocking of the false tooth with the natural teeth as shown in Fig. 2 to assist in fixing the false tooth in its intended position. In the final position of the. false tooth or teeth, the downward extensions 11 and 14 extend over the front and rear faces of the gum a, respectively, and lie in engagement therewith, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 3. The extension 11 of the section 10 may be so constructed as to be practically invisible when the false tooth is in place in the mouth so that said false tooth presents a most natural appearance and is practically undetectable as to its falseness. If for any reason it becomes necessary to remove the false tooth or teeth, this may be readily accomplished by simply swinging the auxiliary section 13 tothe inoperative position shown in Fig. 6 which may readily be brought about by exerting a force upon the downward extension 14 sufficient to disconnect the hook 163 from the recess 17.

Any suitable or convenient method may be followed in producing the novel carrier, the following having proved eliicient and satisfactory. An impression in wax or other suitable material of the space into which the false tooth or teeth is or are to be fitted and of the adjacent natural teeth and gum is prepared. From this impresison the carrier is cast in suitable metal,such as gold, and in one piece or in other words as a unit. This unit is then sawed or out along the line (1 to provide the two sections 10 and 13, which sections are then providedwith lugs 6 arranged to overlap each other and provided with perforations for the accommodations of the pivot 15. Either previously or subsequently to the pivotal connection of .the two sections, the false tooth 12 is cemented or otherwise secured in the main section 10.

The novel carrier provides an efiicient mounting for one or more false teeth without comes necessary.

Various changes in its specific form shown and described maybe made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. Means for forming a tooth between two spaced teeth comprising means adapted to be inserted laterally between the teeth from one side of the opening therebetween, said means means to each other whereby both of said means will be held in engagement with the spaced teeth, both of the first mentioned means co-operating to form a tooth between thespaced teeth, said connecting means being located in the body of the tooth formed thereby, each of said means providing a portion adapted to fit against its respective side of the gum beneath the space between the first mentioned spaced teeth.

2. Means for forming a tooth between two spaced teeth comprising means adapted to be inserted laterally between the teeth from one side of the opening therebetween, said means having sides formed to wedge between the opposed sides of said spaced teeth, and means.

adapted to be inserted laterally from the opposite side of the opening between the teeth, the last mentioned means having its sides formed to wedge between the spaced teeth, said means being pivotally connected together and co-operating to form a tooth between the spaced teeth.

3. Means for forming a tooth betweentwo spaced teeth comprising means adapted to be inserted laterally between the teeth from one side of the opening therebetween, said means having sides formed to wedge bet-ween the opposed sides of said spaced teeth, and means adapted to be inserted laterally from the opposite side of the openingbetween the teeth, the last mentioned means having its sides formed to wedge between the spaced teeth, said means being pivotally connected together and co-operating to form a tooth between the spaced teeth, and means for releasably holding both of said means against relative pivotal movement.

4. Means for forming a tooth between two spaced teeth comprising means adapted to be inserted laterally between the teeth fronione side of the opening therebetween, said means having sides formed to wedge between the opposed sides of said spaced teeth, and means adapted to be inserted laterally from the opposite side of the opening between the teeth, the last mentioned means having its sides formed to wedge between the spaced teeth, said means each providing part of the operative surface of the tooth and portions adapted to fit against opposite sides of the gum between the spaced teeth and co-operating to form a tooth between the teeth.

5. An artificial denture comprising means adapted to be inserted laterally between two spaced teeth from one side of the opening therebetween, and means pivotally connected to said means adjacent the engaging or operative surface thereof adapted to be swung between the teeth from the opposite side of the opening therebetween so as to co-operate with the first mentioned means to be locked in place between the teeth, means for holding the second mentioned means from pivoting rela tively to the first mentioned means, both of said means co-operating to form a tooth between the teeth.

6. An artificial denture comprising means adapted to be inserted laterally between two spaced teeth from one side of the opening therebetween, and means pivotally connected to said means adj acent the engaging or operative surface thereof adapted to be swung between the teeth from the opposite side of the opening therebetween so as to co-operate with the first mentioned means to be locked in place between the teeth, means for holding the second mentioned means from pivoting relatively to the first mentioned means, both of said means co-operating to form a tooth between the teeth, and providing portions adapted to engage and fit against the sides of the gum.

7 Means for forming a tooth between two spaced teeth comprising means adapted to be positioned laterally between the teeth from one side of the opening therebetween, means adapted to be positioned laterally between the teeth from the other side of the opening therebetween, means pivotally connecting both of said means together between the teeth, means for holding both of said means against pivotal movement, both of said means having their sides formed to fit against the opposed surfaces of the spaced teeth so as to be held in place thereby and co-operating to form a tooth between the teeth, one of said means providing a portion adapted to fit against the outside of the gum below the opening between the teeth and the other of said means providing a portion adapted to fit against the inside of the gum below the opening between the teeth.

8. Means for forming a tooth between two spaced teeth comprising a body formed of two parts, said parts being so formed and so constructed as to provide a tooth and being pivotally connected to each other so as to be capable of rotating about an axis parallel to the length of the gum over which the tooth is to be applied, and means for holding said parts against relative pivotal movement.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

HARRY HARTMAN. 

